1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bulk seed handling and dispensing system and more particularly to a system wherein a plurality of bulk seed containers are selectively vertically removably positioned on the deck of the trailer. More particularly, this invention relates to a system wherein the seed containers are clamped or held down onto the deck of the trailer by means of hook members. Even more particularly, this invention relates to a system wherein the slide gates of the seed container are accessible from the driver's side of the trailer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Agricultural seeding machines such as a row crop planter or grain drill are used to place seeds at a desired depth within a plurality of parallel seed trenches. Historically, row crops such as corn are planted with row planters which normally consist of a plurality of spaced-apart planter units mounted on a supporting frame such as a tool bar or the like. Usually, each of the planter units includes a seed box or hopper thereon which must be filled with seed. Non-row crops such as wheat, soybeans, oats, barley, etc. are planted by means of grain drills. The grain drills include a seed hopper positioned thereon. In both types of planting, the seed boxes or hoppers must be filled with seed. In many cases, individual bags of seed are hand-carried to the planters with the seed being poured therefrom into the planter boxes or hoppers. In recent years, seed has been supplied to the farmers in bulk form, i.e., the seed is contained in large seed containers, sometimes called “totes”, carried on a trailer or the like and is dispensed therefrom to the planter boxes or hoppers by an auger conveyor.
Applicant has previously received U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,971,324 and 6,994,039 on bulk seed handling and dispensing systems or seed tenders as they are sometimes called. Although the seed tenders of the above-identified patents have met with considerable success, it has been found that improvements may still be made on the same. In Applicant's previous seed tenders and in most prior art seed tenders, the deck of the trailer has upstanding and horizontally spaced-apart seed inlet openings formed thereon with the seed containers being slidably moved onto the deck of the trailer from one side thereof. As the seed containers are slidably moved onto the deck, the upper ends of the seed inlet openings are sometimes damaged. Further, it has been found that even a better way of holding or clamping the seed containers to the deck is desirable. Additionally, with the advent of larger diameter auger conveyors, it is desirable to provide a better way of pivotally moving the upper auger conveyor section with respect to the lower auger conveyor section. Even further, in most prior art seed tenders, the doors or slide gates of the seed containers are only accessible between the adjacent containers which makes it difficult to slidably move the slide gates of the containers.